The Democrats have urged the government to cut state costs without relying on foreign aid to bail the country out of a cash crunch when foreign debt remains at an all-time high.

Speaking at a press conference organised by The Democrats on Monday, former MD of STO, Hussain Amr said that the government needs better proposals to attract foreign funds.

Amr said that the country can be run with fewer ministries, and that the government needs to start cutting down its costs. In this regard, Amr pointed out that there have been reports of extensive political posts in the government. He further noted the Embassy staff who are based in Maldives who get paid in USD.

Amr added that the government needs to be transparent in its efforts to minimise cost.

Ilyas Labeeb, a former lawmaker who ran on behalf of Democrats in the last presidential election, said the state's total debt stood at MVR 120 billion at the start of the year.

He added that although the revenue in this year's budget will be MVR 34 billion, Finance Minister has said MVR 49 billion will be spent creating a MVR 15 billion deficit this year alone.

Finance Minister Mohamed Shafeeq had recently told the parliament the state expenditure is expected to reach MVR 57 billion this year, which would result in state debt to reach MVR 140 billion by the end of the year.

Ilyas said that the state needs to cut down political appointees and focus on cutting state expenditure.